A major shift toward the cloud brings together a number themes that have become increasingly visible in the pay-TV space

February 12, 2018 --

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Since its foundation, Verimatrix has been fixated in the realm of video distribution, protecting video services from threats like piracy, redistribution, and copyright violations. Over recent years, analytics has been added the mix with new capabilities of measuring the details of technical delivery and audience interest. Both functions, security and analytics, have been available in cloud form for some time. But recently, interest has dramatically spiked.

In the past, Verimatrix customers would talk about an undefined future in which some administrative functions, but probably never all video delivery, would be handled in cloud environments. Now, the conversation about the transition to the cloud isn't about if or when, but how and how soon.

At the start of each year, Verimatrix CEO Tom Munro shares his predictions for the year ahead, and for 2018, he anticipates a major shift toward the cloud for the following reasons:

Centralized Content Delivery: In the old model, video content needed to be encoded, encrypted, uploaded to a satellite, downloaded to a cable head end, decrypted, decoded, re-encoded and re-encrypted. With the cloud, video content is encoded, encrypted and stored in the cloud, where it can be delivered simply by exchanging encryption keys and URLs. The savings from simplifying this process can be enormous.

Proven Scalability of ABR Systems: Cable and IPTV systems have depended on broadcast or multi-cast models for efficient video delivery. Why send out 100 million unique streams when we all watch the same sporting events? It was previously believed that large scale unicast delivery would "break the internet," but the success of Netflix, Amazon, etc. has proven otherwise.

Smarter Investments: In the past, pay TV operators have had a strong bias in favor of capital investment rather than operating expenses, but in a new environment, where long term subscriber trends are uncertain, it may be more difficult to sponsor large multi-year capital projects. If fewer households will subscribe in the future, or if households will drop some set-top boxes in favor of tablets and phone screens, it may be attractive to rent cloud infrastructure as and when needed.

Restructured Security: In response to the security challenge posed by UHD content, the industry has moved toward implementing hardware-based roots of trust to replicate the level of revenue protection long taken for granted in operator-owned set-top boxes. However, now that there is a growing movement away from set-top boxes directly under operator control toward retail devices purchased by the consumer, there is an emphasized need for instilling security right across the whole value chain. This should start with the hardware and then run through software-based renewable security provided by the cloud.

Analytics & Security Work Hand in Hand: Analytics is intimately connected with content security because that is the source for a lot of valuable and sensitive. As both sets of functions move to the cloud the boundaries between them are dissolving further as they become increasingly inseparable. The two together also reinforce security monitoring in the cloud, which is becoming essential to provide early warning of impending attacks as well as enable fast response to the intrusions that inevitably will occur.

With change comes new opportunities. Tom Munro and the rest of the Verimatrix team are excited about this new phase in the video services industry and look forward to providing services that help customers and partners successfully make the shift.

About VerimatrixVerimatrix specializes in securing and enhancing revenue for network-connected devices and services around the world and is recognized as the global number one in revenue security for IP-based video services. The award-winning and independently audited Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) family of solutions enables next-generation video service providers to cost-effectively extend their networks and enable new business models. The company has continued its technical innovation by offering a comprehensive data collection platform, Verspective Analytics, for automated system real-time quality of experience (QoE) optimization to drive user engagement and content monetization, and data collection/analytics and Vtegrity, advanced security that addresses IoT threats and service lifecycle management.